How does a person become like Christ? John wrote, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 Jn 3:2─3 NIV) John’s teaching is that “we shall be like him.” Many accept, and have been taught, that the “we” refers to all who have made a confession of faith, those who have been identified as “believers.” However, “believers” are those who obey the commands of Christ. John completed his thought by adding, “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

Common teaching allows that Christ, by his mercy and grace, has done all that is needed to prepare the confessor for a place in his kingdom. There is no miraculous purification or soul transformation when this life ceases; the believer is to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling. It is for the sake of holiness and for the hope of being sanctified by Christ and made “an offering acceptable to God,” (Rom 15:16 NIV) “to become blameless and pure” (Phil 2:14) that God requires obedience to Christ. The Word reveals that without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14) and that it is righteous living that produces holiness. (Rom 6:19) “Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.” (NIV)

John’s teaching that “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is,” is the understanding that needs to be grasped. Our earthly understanding of Christ remains ‘foggy.’ Paul wrote, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Cor 13:12 NIV) One day the obedient will see him free of the distortions of word and mind.

The reality is that unless the believer becomes holy through slavery to righteousness they will not see him or know him. They cannot conform to his likeness. To “see” means “to gaze (i.e. with wide-open eyes, as at something remarkable)” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary #3700) It will be those in close proximity to Christ who will have the advantage of enjoying his image; they will see him and know him

During their earthy life believers have been called to be like Christ. Those who take this call seriously have learned to cast aside destructive practices. Paul wrote, “You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4:23─24 NIV) All who claim the name of Christ are to conform to his nature. Unless the confessor is changing in the attitudes of his or her heart, he or she is not a “believer” and will one day face the wrath of God since the hearts and practices of humankind are not acceptable to God. In Genesis it is recorded, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth.” (Gen 6:5─7 NIV) It is the heart of people that needs to be made acceptable to God. Holiness is not a gift to believers beyond their redemption. One’s body is to be “offered in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”

If the “imaginations of the thoughts of one’s heart” are, and remain, offensive to God he or she will never achieve the glory that he offers. Knowing Christ through the Word and the revelations of his Spirit and through obedience to his commands (the application of his mind) allows believers to become transformed. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18 NIV)

Becoming like Christ depends on one’s willingness to allow him to transform one’s heart and practices through his Spirit as he or she walks this earth. Those who have been led to holiness will achieve a state of glory far beyond their understanding. To accomplish this requires a humble and obedient walk with Christ as Lord, and requires suffering as evil imaginations are purged. God is to be loved with all of one’s heart, mind, body, and soul as evidenced in a person’s practices. Paul wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18 NIV)

Believers will be truly like Christ in matters of the heart and mind. They will be able to fellowship unashamedly with God and with others. They will bring joy to his heart instead of pain. While on this earth the beauty of that relationship cannot be known because purity and holiness in people and relationships does not exist. Concerning the New Jerusalem, Paul wrote, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and he will be their God.” (Rev 21:3 NIV).

Russell Young is the Sunday contributor to Christianity 201 and author of Eternal Salvation: “I’m Okay! You’re Okay!” Really? available in print and eBook through Westbow Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble; and in Canada through Chapters/Indigo.

Once again we’re paying a return visit to the daily devotional section of the online Bible resource Blue Letter Bible and also returning to the subsection, Pastor Bob Hoekstra’s Day by Day by Grace. These are related devotionals which ran a day apart and so we’re including links for both parts.

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge…For we are to God the fragrance of Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)

In addition to the characteristic of triumphant living, God also wants to develop in our lives the fragrance of Christ. “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge.”

Just as there are physical fragrances that can be noticed by our physical senses, there are also spiritual fragrances that can impact us spiritually. If a woman generously applies perfume to herself, others will certainly notice the fragrance of that perfume. If a person consistently presses on to know the Lord, others will definitely be impacted by the “fragrance of His knowledge.” This is described as the “fragrance of Christ.” This is that spiritual aroma that emanates from the lives of those who are getting to know the Lord. It is a validating reality that the Lord Jesus Christ is dwelling in their lives and is being evidenced through their lives.

As we are getting to know the Lord more and more, this spiritual aroma of Christ blesses even God Himself. “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ.” Yes, God is the first one who savors this Christlike fragrance.

Our ministry and testimony is always primarily unto the Lord. We who believe in Jesus Christ are to be “finding out what is acceptable to the Lord“ (Ephesians 5:10). We are not here on earth to please ourselves. “Do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). We are here to please our God. “Brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God“ (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

What ultimately pleases our heavenly Father is His beloved Son. When the Father looked down from heaven at the baptism of His Son, He exclaimed, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased“ (Matthew 3:17). When our Father looks down upon our lives today, He wants to enjoy the fragrance of His Son emanating forth from our lives. “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ.“

Heavenly Father, I long to bless You by the fragrance of Christ through my life. I am sorry that the stench of selfish flesh is what sometimes emanates from me. Lord, help me to get to know You more and more, so that the knowledge of You can produce the aroma of Christ in and through me, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Now thanks be to God who…through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other the aroma of life to life. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

The fragrance of Christ is one of the great characteristics that God wants to build into our lives by His grace. “Now thanks be to God who… through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge.” This spiritual aroma, which results from getting to know the Lord, blesses the heart of God. “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ.” The Father loves to see the life of His Son being expressed in and through our humanity, even though this requires our dying to self. “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh“ (2 Corinthians 4:11).

As we are getting to know the Lord more and more, our God is not the only one who is impacted. This spiritual aroma of Christ impacts every person we meet. “God…through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” This includes both the saved and the unsaved. “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”

This fragrance affects those who know the Lord: “the fragrance of Christ…among those who are being saved.” For those who are enjoying life in Christ, that heavenly scent in our lives is “the aroma of life to life.” Christ’s fragrance in us draws them to seek abundant measures of that life which they have already entered.

This spiritual scent also influences those who do not yet know our Lord: “the fragrance of Christ…among those who are perishing.” To them it is “the aroma of death to death.” They are dead in their sins, and this aroma makes them more aware of their deadness, more aware of their need for Christ.

When this fragrance is emanating from our lives, we are not the cause. God is the active agent, working in and through us to bring forth this heavenly scent. “Now thanks be to God who…through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge.” This work of God’s grace is available to us every day we live and every place we go: “the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

Father God, I long to know You more and more. I want to have this fragrance of Christ emanating up to You and out to every one I meet. I praise You that this is a work You do by Your grace. So, I humbly bow, trusting You to work in me this way, through Christ, my Lord, Amen.

January 9, 2015

This is one of those articles that somewhat shocks or jolts you into thinking. For me, that means I have to go back and re-read it all slowly to get what the author is saying. This is from the articles (or “deviations”) page at Pathways International. To read at source, click the title below.

For me, It’s enough of a challenge to do what Christ said to do, better yet to obey, or observe, all he commanded. (Matthew 28:19,20) (John 14:15) (1 John 5:3) If I were to further pressure myself, at the urging of my own conscience or that of others to ‘become Christlike,’ or to ‘try to be more Christlike,’ then aren’t I trying to attain something different than Jesus intended?

Where do we get the idea that we’re supposed to ‘Christlike’ anyway?

Maybe it’s from one of these biblical passages:

1 John 2:6 – “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

1 Peter 2:21“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 – “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

All of these passages involve walking as if the journey to becoming Christlike was exactly that, a journey. To me, these passages and many others like them are not calling us to become Christlike, but to in every way, as much as we are able in the moment to take advantage of the opportunities to obey Christ’s commands that he has already given us and not create another set of sorcerous and unattainable requisites.

Perhaps the most commonly referred to set of verses that people use to call others to ‘be more Christlike,’ are these:

Ephesians 5:1 – “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” (NLT)

1 Thessalonians 1:6 – “So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.”

Again, ‘becoming Christlike’ does not seem to be the import of these passages. Rather, it seems that in our obedience and with Christ as our perfect example, that our actions or conduct in accordance with Christ’s revealed will in the Scriptures, should be followed as much as they are like His.

This can get a bit complicated with many speaking of being incarnational (Being Jesus in our contexts), but again, If pressed, I think many of those in the missional-incarnational conversation would say that the most common understanding of becoming ‘Christlike’ is not what they mean when they use the term.

A few questions;

1. If you were tasked to defend ‘becoming Christlike’ from scripture, what texts would you use?

2. Do you get the sense that urging others to ‘become more Christlike’ borders on being Pharisaical or overly religious?

3. For you, has ‘becoming more Christlike’ been a fruitful endeavor or a weighty impediment?

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